What If
by Turelie Telcontar
Summary: What if James Potter had taken Sirius Black as a secret-keeper instead of Peter? What would have happened, and how would life be different for Harry and everyone else?
1. Chapter 1

Title: What If?

Summary: I just wondered, what would happen, if Sirius would have been secret-keeper for James and Lily, instead of Peter… So here's my take on it…

Warnings: Contains torture, angst, and possibly character death, so I you don't like that, don't read it!

A/N: Okay, my first fanfiction here. Tell me what you think about it, but no flames. Flames are fed to my pet dragon, without further notice….

And thanks to Trish, for encouraging me to write more and being my muse, and to Sparx, for beta'ing…

Chapter 1

"You think we should take Peter as our secret-keeper?"

"It would be a good bluff. No one would be suspicious of him; every one will think it was me. No one besides the four of us would know the truth, so no one could tell Him." Sirius was obviously quite pleased with his idea and himself, but James had a bad feeling. Most of the time he listened to his stomach; that had made his pranks so successful. If he only knew what it meant to tell him now! 

Then Lily said, "A good bluff - as long as Peter isn't the traitor." 

Sirius stared at her wordlessly. Of course, it could be Peter, he had just never thought of it. Somehow he was sure it was Remus. But Peter had offered himself - well, not really offered, but he had been quite happy about this idea. Too happy, considering it meant risking his life?

James finally made his decision. "Lily is right. It could be Peter, we just can't be sure. Please, Padfoot, do this, for me, for us." 

Sirius gave himself a kick. He still thought his idea to be good, but when James didn't want to ask Peter, he wouldn't try to change his opinion. It was James' family in question. 

"Of course, Prongs, you're probably right," he said softly. 

"Then we're going to meet again this evening, here? We still have to get some things, and get other things done before we disappear." 

"Ok, meanwhile I'll tell Peter that the plan stays." 

"Do you believe it to be a good idea to tell him?" 

"Well, it won't be hard to guess whom you will take as a secret-keeper." Sirius laughed. "That's why I suggested you taking Peter. No one would think of it being him." 

James stared thoughtfully into the space, thought about the idea again. No - he just had a bad feeling when thinking about the idea of making Peter the secret-keeper.

"Okay, then I'll tell him about your decision. We then meet at about five p.m. Is this okay with you?" 

"Yes, that's fine, see you then!" 

With this they departed until evening.

Sirius knocked at the door, for the (be careful of typos!! you had "fort he) third time already. Where could Peter be? Then the door finally opened, and a small man, whose hair began to grow thin already, greeted him: "Hello, Sirius! Long time no see, how are you? Please come in." Somehow Peter seemed to be nervous. 

"Hello Peter!" Sirius went through the open door. "I just come to tell you, that everything stays as it was planned. I will be the secret-keeper to James and Lilly." 

Did he only imagine it, or did Peter really look disappointed? Then the look disappeared, and Sirius was sure that he had just imagined it. That was surely a product of Lily's comment: "as long as Peter isn't the traitor." He shook his head, he really didn't need hallucinations, especially now. Soon a hell of a lot of Death Eaters would be after him, so he would need a clear head.

"Okay, I have to make some preparations, I just wanted to tell you the news. I'll be gone then." He went on his way to the door. "Could be that we won't see each other for quite some time, I think I'll go into hiding. That's safer. See you!" 

"See you!"

When he was sure that Sirius had gone, Peter started shaking. Sirius would become secret-keeper, not him. And he had already told his master, how near they had come his goal. What would happen to him, now? He had failed, and his master didn't tolerate failure. But perhaps- a new thought occurred to him. If he gave Sirius to Voldemort, then perhaps his master would be satisfied with him.

This evening, the Potters met Sirius in their house. Everything was ready for the admittedly very difficult Fidelius-Charm. After some preparation, they carried it out, Harry lying in his bed in the middle of them. And when they had finished it, a bright, golden light that surrounded all of them, and then broke into a thousand sparkles came out of their wands. Harry started smiling, and tried to grab the sparkles with his little fingers, but didn't get one.

"Did it work?" Sirius asked.

"I think so. We did everything right, and Dumbledore said that a bright light would be the sign, that the charm did work - although I didn't think that it would be that beautiful." Lily remarked.

"Good, then I'll better go home, and pack my things. No reason to sit around, where everyone will look for me first: For safety I will stay away from here, too, perhaps they will look for me here, too. We'll be seeing each other, take care!" Sirius waved his goodbye.

"I think we are much safer now than you. So don't do anything stupid, Sirius!"

"I'll take care of myself. You know me!" Sirius put up his charming "nice-boy-smile".

"Yes, I do know you. That's why I'm worried!" James grinned cheekily at him.

Sirius boxed him playfully into the ribs. "Oooowwww! Leave it!" 

"Oh, come on, that couldn't have hurt, now could it?" 

"No, it didn't", admitted James. "But you really better go now. Safe is safe!"

After Sirius had left the house, he went to his own home. During the whole way he didn't realize he was being followed. As his follower was a rat, it was nearly impossible for Sirius to recognize any followers.

Arriving at home, he immediately went to his bedroom, and started packing his robes and some pictures. He had started to pick out what he would need before, but there hadn't been enough time to pack it. 

When he was almost finished, a loud knock came from the front door. Who could this be? Carefully he went to the door. Fortunately, or rather intentional, directly next to the door there was a window. And when he looked out of it, he saw Peter standing there. `Probably he wants to know whether everything worked out', Sirius thought, and opened the door.

Peter started stuttering: "He-hello Sirius! I just wanted - can I come in? One better does not talk about it so openly." he looked around with a frightened glance.

"Of course, come in." After both of them were in the house, and Sirius had closed the door, he added: "I just was packing. Yes, everything worked," he answered Wormtail's unasked question. Then he suddenly heard a loud noise, like a crack, from the door leading to the garden. Quickly he took his wand out, ready to immediately hex an intruder and went to the door to the veranda. But through the glass door nothing could be seen.

Peter stood right behind him now, with his wand ready, too. One after the other they went very carefully into the garden, to look for the cause of the noise. Then they were suddenly surrounded by beings in black robes, who wore masks in front of their faces. 

`Death Eater, they have found me' the thought flew fast through Sirius head, before in a part of a second he aimed his wand at the nearest masked figure, and cried "Expelliarmus!" And although the wand of his opponent - and some of the other Death Eater's wands as well, flew through the sky, he didn't have much of a chance. And he knew it. But he continued to cry disarming-charms, stunning-charms, protection-charms, and ducked his opponents curses, but finally some curses met him flat on the chest, and he fell to the floor like a stone, and stayed there motionless.

"Oh great. Hopefully he isn't dead, the master needs him alive!" 

"He has a thick head, he'll survive it." 

"Hopefully. I'll look soon, but first we have to tie him up." The speaker aimed his wand at him, and murmured something. Some ropes wound themselves around Sirius' body, and tied him up. Then the Death Eater approached him, to feel his pulse.

End of chapter one

So, what do you think? Please tell me, more reviews equals faster writing – and especially translating so you can read it… J


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sirius' pulse was still there. Weak, but it was there. Although it wasn't clear how long the effect of the charms would last, and so the leader of the Death Eaters took out his wand, aimed it at Sirius, and yelled "Mobilcorpus!" 

Fortunately, He-who-must-not-be-named had given them a portkey, with which they would get back to him. Every way else to travel would have been nearly impossible with the unconscious prisoner.

They stood in a circle around it, and then the leader touched Sirius, and all together they touched the portkey. And a short time afterwards all of them stood in a dark cellar room.

When the other ones did go back to Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew had stayed behind, in Sirius' garden, and from there he went back to his home. No one, besides perhaps Sirius, knew that he was the spy, and Sirius wouldn't be able to tell anyone.

Meanwhile Lord Voldemort had appeared to the newcomers, to see if everything had worked as planned. When he saw the unconscious prisoner, he smiled with satisfaction Now victory was near!

Soon he would kill the boy with the power to destroy him. And then he just had to get Dumbledore out of the way, and nothing could stop him. He smiled in anticipation of victory. And everyone who saw that smile shuddered, because somehow it wasn't human.

His handsome face was mauled by the expression of cruelty that had become characteristic of the wizard.

"So this is Black! Well done my faithful Death Eater! Now tie him to the wall, and then wake him!" The addressed men did as they had been told.

They maneuvered Sirius to the wall and then tied him with the shackles, which came out of the wall as ordered. Then they used a waking spell.

Sirius awakened slowly. He kept his eyes shut, while he tested his body with slow motions. Besides the terrible headache, everything seemed to be fine - if you didn't count the fact that his hands and feet were tied together and to the wall, and he hung a little bit over the floor, so that his wrists bore his whole weight. At the moment this just felt uncomfortable, soon it would become painful. But Sirius had the feeling that he would go through things much worse than overused wrists.

And then he heard a cold voice that chilled him to the bone. "Look, Black is awake! You can open your eyes, or are you so afraid to look at me?" Obviously his slow movements hadn't been as unobtrusive as he had thought them to be.

He opened his eyes and found himself looking directly into Voldemort's triumphant ones.

Although he had seen Voldemort only on old photos at the school, he immediately recognized him. He looked older now, but there was such an air of coldness and cruelty surrounding him, that it would be impossible to confuse him with someone else.

"I take it you know why you are here?" Voldemort asked mockingly.

"Go to hell!" Sirius answered heatedly.

"I believe I'll have to teach you some manners. Crucio!" Voldemort said calmly, with a small winking of his wand, and watched as Sirius bit his teeth together, as to not crying out. After some seconds he took his wand up, and Sirius exhaled relieved. 

"That was just a small taste of what I can do to you. It can get much worse. Now? Do you have another answer for me?

"My answer won't change! You can spare yourself the trouble!"

"All right, it is your own fault. If you want to be that pigheaded, then I'll do it the hard way!"

"Oh, there is another way?"

"I'm the mightiest wizard on this planet. Someone with your abilities could be helpful to me…"

"Joining you? Me? Never!"

"Okay, as you wish! CRUCIO!" This time Voldemort said it with more emphasis, and while the pain had been bad before, like Sirius whole body consisted of a bad tooth, he now felt as if thousands of small needles would cut into his body. 

He bit his teeth together, until he could hear them cracking, being too proud to show his pain to Voldemort and his Death Eater. After an eternity, it seemed, the pain stopped, and he couldn't suppress a relieved sigh.

"Impressive. Most of the other people at least cry at this strength."

"You'll have to do something better, to make me cry!" Sirius knew that making Voldemort angry wasn't such a good idea. But he just couldn't keep quiet. His whole being refused to play the victim. And if he wasn't able to do something, then at least he had to talk.

And perhaps it wasn't that bad if Voldemort killed him now. In spite of his brave words, he wasn't that sure that he wouldn't break down and talk, after some time. When the pain got unbearable. Sirius knew, that every man could just bear a certain amount of pain, and although his maximal amount had never been reached, that didn't mean that it didn't exist.

"As you wish. CRUCIO!" This time Voldemort cried the word, and the pain was worse than anything Sirius had ever experienced. Instead of the thousands of small needles, they were now big sticks that bore into his body. The pain became so strong, that he didn't realize he had bitten straight through his lip, nor did he even notice the pain in his wrists.

The only thing he felt was the all-embracing, searing hot pain caused by Voldemort's curse. Finally, short before he fell unconscious, the pain stopped.

"Well, I think that's enough for today. We'll continue the fun tomorrow!" he could hear Voldemort's cruel voice, then merciful darkness embraced him.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to lelegurl9, kantomon, lovevanillacreme, and Sparx, for the nice reviews. I hope this update was soon enough. And don't worry, I won't stop writing because someone says something bad. I'll write until my muse stops working. Oh, and by the way, she works better after I got reviews. They make her happy, and me too, and I can write better when I'm happy!

As always: 'Thanks to Trish and Sparx, you are just great!

And now, without any more ado, the story. ;-)

Chapter 3

When Sirius awakened again, he felt like he had been run over by a train. Every single muscle in his body ached, and his head felt at least twice its normal size. 

Now he had time to study his prison carefully, the day before he hadn't gotten to. It was a big, bare room, windowless, with only one door. Not even his trained eye could see something that could help him. There was nothing there. And although Sirius expected there to be other shackles in the wall, he wasn't sure, as there was no hole to be seen.

Then he heard footsteps, and a short time after Voldemort entered the room. This time he didn't stop to chat. "Crucio!" Sirius whole body felt like on fire. Worse then before, he couldn't catch a clear thought. Just from afar he could hear someone crying out. For a fleeting moment he considered who could be the source of those cries, but then every thought abandoned him, as he could only feel his body burning.

Somehow, sometime the pain ended, and when it began to fade, Sirius realized his throat was raw. The cries he had heard - those must have been his own.

"Seems as if I did find 'something better', didn't I?" Voldemort appeared satisfied with himself. 

"Go to hell!" was the only answer he got.

"Haven't yet learned the lesson, Black? Perhaps you need a reminder. Crucio!"

And again the unbearable, searing pain. Sirius didn't feel his tears, his throat aching, or how he chafed his wrists open at the shackles. One kind of pain blended into the other.

And finally it ended once again.

"Now, let's try something different." Voldemort thought aloud. Sirius instantly knew what Voldemort was planning. Voldemort would try "Legilimency" to get inside his head. This time all the pain wasn't thought to make him talk, it should weaken him. Weaken him enough, so he wouldn't have strength enough to resist Voldemort. But Sirius had had enough "Occlumency"-lessons to be able to shut Voldemort out. As an auror, you never knew when you would need to hide something, and so everyone was trained in "Occlumency". First Sirius closed his eyes, as Leglimency was much easier with eye-contact. Then he emptied his mind, forcing himself not to think about anything emotional, and instead concentrated on an empty tunnel.

"Legilimens!"

When Voldemort flinched, Sirius knew that he had at least won this round. Voldemort cried out his anger, but calmed himself a little, when he remembered his next plan. He left the room fast, almost running, without saying another word, or at least looking back.

But a really short time after this, he came back, followed by ten beings, clad in long black robes, which covered every inch of them.

Those beings weren't walking, but rather gliding. "Dementors!" Sirius immediately recognized them, when he saw them and, more important, felt them. The room became colder, and the light was being sucked away by something. Sirius suddenly felt terrible, and his courage slowly dropped. What could he do against these creatures? Perhaps he should rather tell Voldemort what he wanted to know, then everything would be over. What reason was there, to fight against the mightiest wizard in the world? Every trace of hope disappeared from Sirius' thoughts.

Voldemort ordered the dementors to guard Sirius, but forbade them to kiss him. He told them that they would get their reward later.

Then he left the room again, and Sirius was left alone with his thoughts and the dementors. He felt more and more miserable, he couldn't remember ever feeling so hopeless: Of course had he been in some really bad situations, but he had never lost his self-consciousness.

The dementors were the reason that he felt so miserable, Sirius knew that much. But that wasn't helping anything against those feelings. He just felt alone, and terrible, and everything was hurting, and when he was honest with himself, he didn't believe that anything would change, ever. An eternity later, during which he thought about the worst things that ever happened, Voldemort returned.

"Now?"

"No." But his time the answer sounded flat, there was no power left in the voice, while Sirius still refused to betray James.

"Why? You are ready to face dementors and torture for him. Why?" there was the sound of honest curiosity in Voldemort's voice.

"He is my friend!" answered Sirius simply.

"Really? And then he asks you to sacrifice his life for him? Then he refuses to take someone different, someone not too obvious? Because he had to know that I would find you. Are you sure that he doesn't just use your feelings for him? Perhaps you don't mean anything to him, or he would have tried to save you. But why should he? Your death would seal the secret of his hiding-place. He can never be found as long as he doesn't want to be found. But he would never do something like this, now would he? But, then, why are you here, while he is safe, when I don't want you? But you have to know this for yourself. I have to go now, I still have other important things to do."

"Yeah, I really believe you," Sirius growled with sarcasm. But the expected reaction didn't come. Voldemort just left.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, here's the next chapter! Sorry it's so short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. The next one is longer, I promise!

Now, thanks goes as always to Sparx and Trish, my beta-reader and my muse!

Thanks too to anyone who reviewed. You feed my muse and make me write, and especially translate the story, something I really don't like to do. So please, if you read it, review.

And, without anymore ado, on to the story!

Chapter 4

Normally, Sirius wouldn't even think about Voldemort's words. He would have recognized them as what they were: an attempt to confuse him and make him talk. But these weren't "normal" circumstances. He had been tortured with the "Cruciatus"-curse, had had to block an attempt to read his mind, and was surrounded by dementors.

And against his will he started to think about Voldemort's words.

"Nonsense!" he told himself strictly. 'James would never do that. He was afraid for Lily and Harry, he wanted to protect them. And I offered myself. And would I really prefer James or Peter to be here instead? - No, surely not. Peter? Didn't He say something about "refuses to take someone else, someone less obvious". How would he know that? No one knew, besides me, James, Lily and Peter.' 

Suddenly realization hit him, and he felt like he had been hit into the stomach. 'Peter? Had Lily been right? She had to, there's no other explanation. Oh, how could you?' The feeling of disappointment and anger drove the despair away. If he could get his hands on Peter. 'Only, for this you first have to get out of here'.

When Voldemort came back later, Sirius was more defiant then He had him expected to be.

"You can keep your lies to yourself, I won't believe you anyway!" Sirius greeted him.

"As you wish." He turned around to the dementors. "You leave!" Then he touched the sign on his arm.

The dementors left the room, and a short time after about two dozen men or women (Sirius couldn't see that) came in. They wore black, hooded robes and masks in front of their faces.

"He doesn't want to talk, use the "Cruciatus"-curse, until he does - or until he passes out." With those orders Voldemort turned around, and sat on the throne-like chair at the wall, the chair which he had drawn into the air. The arms of the chair looked like snakes winding themselves around branches, and over the head a huge basilisk threatened everyone.

The first one of the black-clad figures approached Sirius and "Crucio!" - again a searing pain embraced him. Every one of his nerve ends felt like it was on fire, and he felt from a great distance how he writhed in the shackles that were holding him.

Sometime, the pain ended, and Sirius could take a deep breath, before the next figure continued. "Crucio!" And the next one. "Crucio!" The breaks between the different men were becoming smaller, and the pain from one curse lessened just slightly until the next one was cast. Then there was one, whose spell was inflicting less pain than the other ones.

Not none, but less than at the others. If the wizard was bad at this spell? Sirius didn't know the answer, but was happy about the short break. He tried to not let the difference show, but he was worried. He couldn't bear this much longer. He already felt his strength dwindling. It was just a matter of time until he would break down. Finally darkness embraced him, he fell unconscious.

When he awakened again, he was almost alone in the room. Just one of the Death Eater had been left behind. 'Perhaps to tell the other ones when I'm awake' Sirius mused, and acted unconscious. But a tiny movement must have caught the Death Eater's eye, as the black man came slowly nearer. When he was finally standing right in front of Sirius, the man took away his mask.

"YOU!"

"Yes, it's me. And please, listen to me quietly, before you call the guards." The man said in his usual cold voice, and with a sneer. 

It was Sirius' old enemy, Severus Snape.


	5. Chapter 5

Someone reminded me of the Disclaimer. Thank you. And to make it clear: Harry Potter and all its characters belong to Joanne K. Rowling and WB. At least I think so. Sadly, even Sirius doesn't belong to me. If I ever meet J. K. Rowling, I'll ask her if I can keep him, but until then, he's unfortunately not mine.

A/N: Thanks to Sparx and Trish, you know why!

Thanks to all my reviewers, I'd name you personally, but that would be longer than the chapter itself, so I'll just thank you all together now, and continue to answer the questions…

I won't stop writing, don't worry. 

I'll try some original fiction, but that takes more time… 

If Snape gets Sirius out? Wait and see. *g*

And to Sirius dying? Well, see the above…

To Harry's life with his parents: Yes, I guess I'll have to show it, even though I'm not happy about writing that part.

And Voldemort marking Harry his equal: You'll see. I already have the idea for it, and you'll see it.

There won't be a scene where James and Lily discover that Sirius won't come back, as he didn't plan on coming back, sorry!

There will be Remus in later chapters, don't worry. He'll get another main part.

James will be in later chapters, but the next some are without him, sorry, but he's hiding.

I'm always open for suggestions, and I'll listen to them, but in the end I'll do whatever I think works best.

Okay, thanks to you all, and to everyone who reviewed in a short way, it's nice to know people read it, and like it.

So please, continue!

And I get all your reviews, even if they don't show up on the website, as I get them per mail.

*hugs to all reviewers*

Chapter 5

"YOU?"

"You are repeating yourself, Black!"

"Of course I should have expected you to be here. You were always interested in the Dark Arts, weren't you, Snivellus?" Sirius used scornfully the name he had called Snape during their school-days.

Snape pressed his lips tightly together, to a flat line, and balled his fists. Obviously, he had to control himself really hard, not to hex Sirius on the spot. After he was a little calmer, he said in an even colder voice: "Do you want to listen to what I have to tell you, or are you still the arrogant jerk of the school-days, who thought he knew more than everyone else?"

"Well, at least I didn't follow Voldemort and kill God-knows-how-many people."

"No, you had to play the hero, didn't you? How fitting! Just jumping into danger head over heels. And leave the consequences to other people to deal with."

A short break appeared, when both of them just stared at each other with open disgust.

"Are you ready to listen to me? If not, I'll leave now. I won't endanger myself unnecessarily just because of you. Bad enough that I'm here at all, and haven't called for the others."

"Then why are you here, if you don't want to?"

"Dumbledore asked me for it."

Sirius stared at Snape unbelievingly. "Dumbledore? Why should Dumbledore ask you for something?

"If you'd have listened, I'd have explained everything, so shut up and listen!"

It was hard on Sirius, but he stayed quiet and listened to Snape. "Well, for some time now I've been working as a double agent for Dumbledore. Unfortunately, I never got to know who the traitor was, but it was me who told Dumbledore of the danger for the Potters. I didn't hear of the planned attack on you early enough to warn someone."  He interpreted the look on Sirius face right: Sirius didn't believe him that he would have warned Black of a danger. And so he added: "I don't like you, Black, but should the Dark Lord get what he wants, than this would be a catastrophe for the whole world. That's why I'm here now. Was this just about you, I would leave you here without a second thought. But we can't afford that. That's why Dumbledore asked me to get you out of here. - Although, quite frankly, I don't have the slightest idea how to do that."

"And how do I know that you speak the truth?"

"Chocolate Frog Cards!"

"What?"

"The password. Chocolate Frog Cards!"

"Okay, so you're speaking the truth." Dumbledore's weakness for sweets led to the passwords often being sweets. "What about apparating?"

"Not possible from here. There are special transport points, and for those you need the permission of the Lord. And we wouldn't even get there. Just outside this door there are four dementors, guarding it. I'm just here to tell Him immediately when you are awake. So that the fun can be continued."

"I can't stand this much longer. I already feel my strength fading." 

A long break, in which both of them thought hard.

"So, we have to prevent Voldemort from getting James, Lily and Harry. For this we have to prevent me from telling Him. But I can't get away from here. And even if you can tell Dumbledore where I am, he doesn't have enough people to dare an attack on Voldemort's lair. So we have to prevent me from telling Voldemort what he wants to know, without me getting out of here. - Do you have poison?"

"What?"

"Poison. Voldemort will kill me either way. So I'll die either on some painful Curse, probably after betraying my best friend, or I'll die before on poison. If I have the choice, I'll take the poison." A dry, humourless grin accompanied those words. "You do have something that kills after some time and can't be backtracked to you, don't you?"

"Afraid for me? How touching!"

"Well, if you're found out and tortured you could tell a lot of things that are bad for us and our plans. Nothing personal, I assure you."  

"Oh, I already thought so. And yes, I think I do have a fitting potion. However, I can't give it to you before this evening, so you will have to endure about one and a half round of Cruciatus-curses. You think you will manage this?"

"Yes. If I can concentrate on the fact that it will be over soon, than I'll manage it."

"Good. I now inform the others that you're awake."

A short time later, the room started to fill with Death Eaters again. And again one after the other cried "Crucio!" And again the pain got stronger every single time, but this time he concentrated with every ounce of willpower on the fact that it would be over soon, forever, until he lost consciousness again.

When he awoke this time, there was again only Snape in the room. As soon as he saw that Sirius was awake, he appeared with a small bottle in his hand. 

"Here, drink this. Then you'll have about the quarter of an hour. Then first will you get dizzy. Then you'll see only black, your eyes stop working. Then you won't be able to hear anymore, and at last your heart will stop working. Are you sure you want to do this?" 

"I really don't want to do it, and I am open for other options, but as I see it, it's the only way."

He looked at the bottle, and thought about what Dumbledore would say to this. Probably something like, "There are always other options". Not this time. The only other option he could see was waiting until he broke down and betrayed his best friend. And that wasn't an option, not if he could help it.

"Okay, I'll take the stuff now."

"Stuff?" repeated Snape disgusted. "But to expect a sense for the beauty of potion-making from you is surely asked too much."

"Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you: Peter is the traitor. You need to tell Dumbledore that. The traitor is Peter Pettigrew."

"Really. I will tell Dumbledore. Anything else?"

"No, that was it. Tell everyone goodbye from me. And tell James that it wasn't his fault."

Snape nodded, then he went nearer to Sirius, and lifted the bottle to Sirius' mouth, so that he could drink. A viewer could have seen, that both of them detested their closeness equally strong.

When Sirius had emptied the bottle, Snape went outside, to call the other Death Eater.

And again one after the other used the Cruciatus-curse on Sirius. And again Sirius cried out, and writhed in his shackles, while trying to concentrate on the fact that it would soon be over. Then, finally, he felt through all the pain a slight dizziness, that was getting stronger and stronger. Then the black figures floated into another, until he didn't see anything, and after he lost his ability to hear, and then he didn't know anything anymore.

So, please tell me if you like this!

And remember: No killing authors! Read the next part, (it is at my beta reader at the moment!) and perhaps you don't want to kill me anymore…..


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, here is the next chapter. It is short, but I decided to have mercy, and give you the next part soon.

The A/Ns are at the end of the story…

Diclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K.Rowling and some other people do. I don't make any money with it, and as I'm a poor college student, you won't get anything if you sue me.

Chapter 6

"Good morning!" a happy voice greeted him as he woke. He had a terrible headache, and the rest of his body felt as if he had been wrestling with a troll -and lost. If one was dead there should be no pain, or was this asking too much? Especially since he shouldn't have a body that could be aching.

Slowly he opened his eyes to search for the source of the happy voice, and looked directly into the face of Albus Dumbledore, who was sitting at the end of his bed.

But that couldn't be true, Dumbledore was still alive, whereas he himself was dead, wasn't he?

"Did you die, too?" was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

"Why "too"? And why should I be dead?" Dumbledore's smile had left his face, instead there was a look of utter confusion.

"Well, I drank poison that was supposed to kill me. So I should be dead." When he saw the look on Dumbledores face, understanding dawned on him. "I take it I didn't drink poison" he stated the obvious.

Now the wrinkles on Dumbledores forehead were no longer a sign of puzzlement, but of annoyance.

"You thought the potion was a poison to kill you? Then why exactly did you drink it?"

"Well, I couldn't take this much longer. And I had to make sure Voldemort didn't get James. that was the only possibility I thought of."

He smiled innocently. Then he thought of Snape. "It was no poison, and Snape knew it, didn't he? That means this slimey - oh, I'll kill that bastard!" Now Sirius was really angry.

Dumbledore's forehead was still in wrinkles, but he said, "You owe him your life!"

"He told me that I would die!!!" Sirius almost cried, but soon discovered that this wasn't such a good idea, when he felt his head explode. "And where is he?" he groaned.

"He's gone back. After taking your 'corpse' from the wall, he sent someone to Voldemort, who became angry and cursed the Death Eaters with some "Cruciatus"-curses." Then Severus took your body out of the house, he said he would bury it. He used a portkey I gave him to transport to a house we often use as a station, from there he came here by floo-powder. He brought you here, and then had to get back without taking a break. But he'll be back this evening..."

"Good. I really want to have a word with him. To make me believe I would die. Bastard! Oh, and did he tell you who the traitor is?"

"No, he said you knew it, and he would leave it to you to tell me. He was in quite a hurry. So, who is it?"

"Peter Pettigrew!" Sirius answered. As soon as he thought about it, a wave of fury and disappointment overcame him.

Dumbledore wore now a stern expression. "Are you sure?" "Yes. Voldemort mentioned that James had refused the offer of someone else to be the secret-keeper and insisted on me being it. Only Peter could have told him that."

Then Madam Pomfrey came through the door and interrupted the dialog. Sirius just now realized that he lay in a special part of the hospital wing of Hogwarts.

"Now that's enough. This potion that Professor Snape gave him wasn't good for his health. And he wasn't in a good shape before, so please, Albus go now, or he'll never get rest!" With those words she put some chocolate on Sirius night table. "You have to eat this; Professor Snape said something about you being in contact with dementors. But before, you'll take this potion, boy, it will help against the pain and it will help you sleep." She gave him a vessel, and watched him closely. She wanted to make sure that he really drank the potion that tasted like cod-liver oil and sage, and other things he couldn't identify. And not gave it to the flowers.

Once he had given a potion for regenerating in one of the flower-pots while she had been busy with other things. Half of the hospital wing had been unusable for some time, because it had been overgrown by the small violet. It had taken weeks until everything had been back to normal.

This time he took the medicine without a comment, and that spoke loudly of the pain he was feeling. Then he started to unpack the chocolate and putting it into his mouth. He offered Dumbledore some, who took a small piece, too. "After this shock I can really use some. Peter. Who would have thought of that?" 

"Lily, she said something like this." Sirius suddenly went pale. "Oh my God, when I think what would have happened if they followed my advice."

On Albus' questioning glance he explained his plan to make Peter the secret-keeper.

 Then he suddenly felt so tired, that he lay down and was immediately asleep.

So, first: Thanks to Sparx and Trish, you girls are just great.

Then, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Now, to all of you personally:

FallenAngel664: I'm glad that you waited to kill me. You don't want to do it anymore, now do you?

Kantomon: Your feeling was true. Now, our fics have two things in common: He doesn't succeed in either one.

JediHermione: *blushes* Thank you! I hope you didn't have to wait too long…

Kimmaree: Well, seems as if hoping has helped…. :-)

Draco-Malfoy-Severus-Luva: Thank you!!! No need to cry, he isn't dead. Was that update soon enough?

M.J. Kobayashi: Now, I granted your wish. Are you happy? J

Boowoo: Thank you! I hope you like this as well, and don't worry, there's much more to come.

Jenstarz: Sometimes hoping helps. You still like it?

alana chantelune: You were right, no suicide (at least not now!)

eskimopie: I didn't kill him. I think I love too much to kill him when there's a good way to let him live. J

ofir: *revives you* Now, it's not sooo bad, you see? No reason to cringe to death!!!

Nirkanta: Was this soon enough? I really hope you don't want to kill me anymore….

SiriusWolf: *blushes* Thank you soo much. I didn't do the same thing JKR did. See? I'm not evil. As for James still being there… Wait and see…

LM C: Thank you! *gives handkerchief* No reason for tears, he's still alive!

So now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it is short, but I'd rather post shorter chapters more often….

And I hope the comments made sense, as it is 1:30 am now, and I can hardly keep my eyes open!

Oh, and please, review!! That will make me happy, and happy me writes more, and translates more. And my muse needs reviews to survive!!!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, here's the next part. I'm really sorry, but I just couldn't translate, had translater's block (yes, that exists!). Hopefully I'll be faster with the next chapters, please review, that makes me translate faster, it really does!!!

So, to my reviewers:

First: *huggles all and gives chocolate cookies*

Second, to everyone individually:

Kimmaree: Thank you, I hope you like that one as well! And I'm sorry for waiting so long…

FallenAngel664: Glad that you don't want to kill me anymore. And I hope that was soon enough! (I know it wasn't…)

M.J. Kobayashi: Thank you! Well, this is a little later than the others…

Firebreath: As per your orders, here is more! ;-) I hope you like this as well, and keep reviewing to tell me writing more!!

Ofir: I hope you're still reading this, how is the translating going?

Rayvern: Well, those Death Eater know what they're doing, so they didn't make it soo bad he would go crazy or die, Voldemort would have been really angry had that happened. And I don't think they would have risked that. Snape's confession was dangerous for him, yes, but the alternatives would have been worse. If he had forces Sirius to drink something, he would have mentioned it in front of Voldemort, who would have known something was wrong. And he couldn't just kill him, as he needed a reason why Sirius was suddenly dead. So he just made everyone believe someone has made the Cruciatus-curse too strong… And with Sirius and new identity, I know about the problem, but I won't tell how it will be solved…Thanks, and I hope this was soon enough…

Estelle Took: I'm glad I'm safe, glad that you're happy, and I hope that was soon enough…

Draco-Malfoy-Severus-Luva: I think you have to thank me for not killing Sirius ;-) That wasn't so soon, but hopefully soon enough… Oh, and I'm in denial, too!

LM C: You're welcome, for both. And I start to like Snape, too. Well, not really like him, but he is brave, I mean think about what will happen if (or when) Voldemort finds out that he is a spy?

Ivy Crane: Yes, Remus is in this story, in this chapter actually, and later on you'll see him more often!

Kantomon: Congratulations for figuring it out!

Fiery-Chan: Glad you liked it. And I don't know when/if they will come together, but you will probably see more of everyone, just not necessarily together.

Nikki16: I'm glad that you're happy, and I hope the wait wasn't too long!

Eskimopie: You're welcome! And to the future: You'll see, sorry but I can't tell you.

SiriusWolf: You're welcome! And I hope you like this as well!

And, as always, thanks to my muse Trish, and my beta-reader Sparx (who was unbelievable fast this time, the being late was all my fault!!!) they are really great!

Now, without further ado, on to the story:

Chapter 7  
  
Sirius was awakened by the low whispering of talking people. For a moment he got ready to face the Death Eaters, then he remembered the last hours, and that he was in Hogwarts now. Soon he realized, that his headache had lessened, as well as the hurts in the rest of his body. Now he wasn't afraid he would cry at the smallest movement.  
He opened his eyes and looked around for the source of the voices he had heard. Dumbledore, Remus and Snape - 'the bastard!' - stood near the window. When they saw he was awake, the whispering died down, and they came to his bed. 

"I'm sorry we have to disturb you, after what you went through, but we need to discuss some really important things." Dumbledore excused the disturbance. 

"It's okay, I'm already feeling better, and there's things more important than my well-being at the moment."  
"I'm really sorry, but you're right." Then he turned to the other men. 

"As we know, Voldemort," neither Remus nor Snape flinched, which was rather extraordinary, normally just mentioning the Dark Lord's name would cause most wizards to shake in fear, "wants to kill the Potters. And he's mainly after Harry. We have to hinder him at any cost, and that's why James and Lily have used the Fidelius-curse - that I suggested to them - and made Sirius Black their secret-keeper." He repeated what had happened, to make sure everyone had it in mind now. "But Voldemort got message of that, and Sirius was captured by Death Eater and brought into Voldemort's headquarter. Severus Snape, who was spying there for the Order, helped him to flee." 

Remus, who had sent Snape some puzzled and not really friendly looks, seemed to be astonished, although calmed by these words.

Then Dumbledore continued. "That has brought us into a difficult situation. As soon as Sirius is seen anywhere, Voldemort will know that Severus betrayed him. That means Sirius has to stay hidden for a while, he must not be seen. But perhaps there is some good to this, too. Voldemort believes Sirius dead, and won't look for him anymore; he'll have to find another way to get the Potters. And we do know now who the traitor is." Dumbledore had to take a deep breath. He knew how hard that would be for Remus, he himself had found it hard to believe, and he hadn't been friends with Peter for a long time. "It is Peter. Peter Pettigrew." 

Remus stared at him horrified. Then he sat down. With a shaking voice he asked: "Are you sure?" 

Sirius answered "Yes, we are. First, Voldemort knew that James and Lily refused to take another secret-keeper. Now he could have spoken about Albus Dumbledore, but nobody knew about that plan besides James, Lily, Dumbledore and myself. But we did think about making Peter the secret-keeper, and just James, Lily, Peter and I knew that. It couldn't have been James or Lily, and I know that it wasn't me. So that leaves Dumbledore or Peter. And I think we all agree that it can't be Dumbledore... And second, Peter was in my house when the Death Eaters attacked, right behind me. But they didn't take him."

Now Snape opened his mouth, too. "Then it can be only Pettigrew. I wasn't there, but I heard Malfoy say to Goyle that it would be great to have a spy that could distract Black." 

"We have to put Peter out of action!" Sirius exclaimed. 

"But it will be difficult to hold him captive, once we do have him." Remus had gotten his strength back, and now wrath blinked in his eyes. But before, he had looked at Sirius meaningfully, they needed to talk.  
Sirius felt his stomach flip-flop when he thought about it, but knew that it was necessary.  
"Why should it be difficult to keep Pettigrew imprisoned? We have many more talented wizards and witches imprisoned, and they are still in Azkaban." asked Snape.  
It was visibly uncomfortable for Sirius to tell that, but as Peter was the traitor, everyone had to know about his ability. "Well, Peter is an animagus." 

Snape stared at him, obviously considering the possibility that Sirius had lost the bit of sanity he thought him to have.  
Dumbledore just stared at him thoughtfully. Then he asked very calm: "Perhaps you could explain?"  
"Well, after we, that's James, Peter and me, found out that Remus is a werewolf, we thought about a possibility to help him."  
Snape sneered: "You can't help a werewolf!"  
"Well, as a human you can't get near a werewolf, that's true. But an animal would be able to do that. So we decided to become animagi."  
"Peter, too? I'm surprised he managed it!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"Yes, him too. It was rather difficult, but with James and my help, he made it. We searched through the whole library, looking for everything that could help us. We never did so much research for anything else. And we had to keep our plans hidden from Remus. We wanted it to be a surprise, and we knew that Remus wouldn't be happy if he knew beforehand, he would try to make us stop something that dangerous. So it took us some months to gather all the necessary information on how to do it."  
"And what kind of animals did you become?"  
"James was a stag, I am a dog, and Peter became a rat."

"How fitting," Snape murmured darkly.  
"Well, we didn't get much farther, but I think we'll take a break now, and think about what we just heard. Under no circumstances may Sirius be seen anywhere until then. Is that understood?" With those words, that were spoken as soft as the others, Dumbledore looked at Sirius, who nodded in agreement. He understood, and he wouldn't endanger them all by being seen.  
Dumbledore returned the nod, wished everyone a good night, before going to the door. Reaching it, he turned around and asked: "Would you please accompany me to my office for a short word, Severus?"  
Snape glanced at Remus and Sirius, before following Dumbledore out.  
  
"What they have to talk about?" wondered Remus.  
"Well, perhaps Dumbledore wants to talk to Snape about making me believe that I was drinking poison," Sirius remarked.  
"He did what?"  
"We had to get myself out there somehow, but I couldn't imagine a way, and neither did Snape, and I didn't have much strength left, and so I suggested Snape poison me. And he let me believe that it was real poison, but it made me just seem dead. You can't believe how puzzled I was, when I woke up and saw Dumbledore's face!" Sirius laughed.  
Then he became suddenly serious again. "But I have to talk to you, Moony. To be particular: I have to say sorry." It was uncomfortable for Sirius, he wished himself far far away, but that wasn't an option. He had to tell Remus, or this would stand between the two of them forever.  
When he looked at Remus, he realized that Moony didn't look really surprised about the coming apology, just a little curious. 

"I'm sorry, Moony, but I thought you were the traitor." There, he had said it. He looked closely at Remus, who looked just back for some long moments, then stood up to look out of the window. 

"I thought as much. There's no other explanation for the planned change, without telling me. Just, why?" He sounded only curious.  
"I don't know, can't explain it. Now, as I know it is Peter, I'm asking myself the whole time how I could have missed that before. How I could have suspected you."  
"I know why," Remus voice sounded normal, as if he was talking about the weather. "A werewolf is a creature of darkness, so he just has to be on the dark side." Nothing could be heard of the pain he had to feel now. Pain that one of his best friends had thought him a traitor. He continued staring out the window, as if there was something unbelievably important going on there. But there was only the Forbidden Forest in the moonless darkness to be seen, nothing else.  
"Please, Moony, I know you're angry now, and I can understand, but please, forgive me." Sirius begged, he didn't want to lose his friend.  
Finally Remus turned around.  
In his eyes there was no trace of fury, or even anger, just deep sadness. He had believed that at least three people accepted him how he was, without question. And now. Now one turned out to be a traitor, and another one had thought him capable of betraying his best friend. In this moment, Remus felt terribly alone.  
  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for taking so long... again. I'm suffering from writer's block, and so I can't promise you that I'll update soon. But I'll try.

*Hands out chocolate cookies to reviewers*

Now, to each of you personally:

Ecavi: Yes, Remus mood will improve – I can't tell you when, but it will…

Ofiri: Good. I don't think I could use the address, but I'd like to know what they think…

Kimmaree: Glad that you like it!

Ivy Crane: Yes, poor Remus. I know I'm evil! ;-)

James-Padfoot: Thank you. And yes, I will keep it up. And I didn't forget about this "mark him as his equal" – another part that gave me headache, but it will happen, don't worry.

Munch: Glad that you felt it, it was meant to be sad. And I hope this was soon enough.

FallenAngel664: Remus will forgive Sirius – some time. But it takes time.

Kantomon: From now on, there will be more of Remus; there was just no way to put him in the story earlier.

Kaleigh: Glad that you like it. I'll keep writing, it may just take longer to update.

Estelle Took: Glad that you like it. And take care of Elwen. It won't be good if she burns this story…

SiriusWolf: Yes, they will one day get over this. To your other questions: wait and see. But I'm glad I made you curious for more! ;-)

Sabina M. Paveling: Well, I'd say committing suicide is an option, when the other choice is betraying your friends and then get killed. And yes, Sirius committing suicide would be an interesting idea, but it would have been stupid to kill him when there s another option. No reason t kill someone unnecessarily. And I don't think you could marry Remus: there are to many people with whom you'd have to fight for him. And greetings to June…

LM C: Well, Remus will get around, eventually. But Sirius thought he had betrayed them, so it will take time. And he is happy that Sirius is well, but he didn't have time to worry about him, he didn't know Sirius was captured, so the worry didn't influence his opinion so much. And in the books, Remus thought Sirius to be a traitor for twelve years, so I figured that would influence him, too.

ME: Here, you get another one! ;-)

So, if you want me to mail you when I update, just tell me in your review (don't forget your mailadress); or you could join my mailinglist. You can join it on my homepage… Oh, and to those who already asked me to mail them: Could you please do so again? I misplaced your addresses, sorry!

Now, on with the story…

Chapter 8

Sirius and Remus stood opposite of each other for quite some time, looking in the other's eyes. Finally Remus said something. "I'm not angry, just-" he didn't know how to explain. He took a deep breath, as he felt like he couldn't get enough air. "Things changed. Even between us. Peter's betrayal - our mistrust in each other - it will take some time to get over it." And then he added something that scared Sirius deeply. "If we ever get over it."

"Moony, please, don't say that. I understand that you need time, but what I thought... that wasn't because you are a werewolf!"

"Then why?" Lupin asked surprisingly calm.

"Well, I was sure it was one of the four of us. And it wasn't James, and it wasn't me either. And I believed that Peter had neither the nerves nor the intelligence needed to double cross the four of us – and even Dumbledore. (Better now?) Obviously I was wrong. I'm really sorry."

"Sirius, please, I think I need some time alone. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, when we all make plans because of Peter." With those words Remus turned around and left the room without looking back once.

That evening Sirius turned around in his bed for hours. And although he was still washed out and exhausted, he couldn't find sleep. Again and again he saw Remus' face, sadness in his eyes, without the sparkle it usually showed when in company of his friends. And Sirius was plagued by feelings of guilt. He was the reason those sparkles had disappeared. He had hurt his friend, deeply.

Finally exhaustion took over, and he fell into a light, unrestful slumber, that was plagued by nightmares. When he woke up early in the morning, he was hardly rested. Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey soon visited him and brought him breakfast. He used this opportunity to ask her for a dreamless sleep potion. She eyed him carefully, but then nodded without further questioning him, and fetched the potion. After what he had been through it wasn't unusual to have nightmares, but he couldn't afford to deal with them now; his body still needed rest to fully heal. After drinking the potion, Sirius slept through until almost noon.

And again he was awakened by Dumbledore, Remus and Snape.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you again, but we have to find a way to render Peter harmless. And we have to find a way to expose him, without Voldemort realizing that we knew Pettigrew is the traitor beforehand." Dumbledore started the discussion, as usual.

"We could tell Peter a lie. We could perhaps tell him that Sirius wasn't the secret-keeper; that I was. Then he tells Voldemort, and when the Death Eaters then try to kidnap me, some members of the Order will stand ready to catch them." Remus suggested. He had obviously thought about it before the meeting, and had come up with this idea.

"And you'll just tell Pettigrew, Lupin?" Snape asked pointedly.

"Well, he could get me drunk. Can't you make a potion that will neutralize the alcohol, Severus?"

Snape nodded his head slightly; he could indeed make such a potion.

"That's an idea. Has anyone else a suggestion?" asked Dumbledore.

Everyone shook their head no.

"Good, then Severus will start brewing the potion now, and I will now tell some members of the Order that I have a special mission for them. However, no one besides the three of us and Poppy shall know that Sirius is still alive. So far, we haven't seen him for quite some time, and hope he went into hiding. Okay?"

"It will take some time to prepare this potion, so you should wait a little until you inform them, Albus," Severus cut in. "I do have the ingredients in my lab, but the preparation needs time. We can do it in three days time; it will be ready by then." 

"What do you mean, 'I have the ingredients in my lab'? You don't have your lab here, now do you?" Sirius asked, not sure of what to expect.

"Yes, I indeed have my lab here; I am the professor for Potions here in Hogwarts." Severus said with a small smile, knowing that Sirius would be not too pleased to hear that.

Actually, "not too pleased" was an understatement of Sirius' reaction. His eyes went wide, his face rather pale, and he opened his mouth, closed it again, before finally calming down and asking Dumbledore. "That's not true, is it? I mean - this is Snape, for God's sake. He was a Death Eater, and he loathes children. You can't possibly let him teach?"

"Sirius, you're being irrational. Severus was a Death Eater, yes, but he is now on our side. He even saved your life. And Hogwarts needs a Potion Master who knows what he is doing. So please, stop those arguments, we can't afford them at the moment." The Headmaster ordered the two men.

His usual amused twinkling had left his eyes, what made him look older, and stricter. "So, now that matter is settled, I'd say we all go do our work, and prepare ourselves. Have a good rest Sirius!"

Everyone except Sirius left the room, and the hospital wing once again became silent. Fortunately for them, no children were injured or had fallen ill the last days, so no one had yet discovered that a part of the hospital wing had been separated from the rest.

Three days later, in the evening, Remus and Peter sat at a table in Peter's flat. The empty bottles in front of them - 6 bottles of fine wine, and one started bottle of Fire whiskey - indicated that both of them were severely drunk by now.

"I'm afraid for Sirius!" Remus told his opposite confidentially. "Perhaps the bluff worked too well!"

"Which bluff?" Peter asked curiously - and the sparkle that appeared in his eyes would have told an observer that he wasn't half as drunk as he seemed. And Remus did notice, for he was immune to the alcohol, too, but he was careful enough not to let show what he had seen. Instead, he continued to play his role.

He looked down guiltily, and said "Please forget what I said, I can't talk about it; it is really nothing."

"You can't tell me, you mean."

"No. it's just- it's really nothing, okay? Just forget it. I've drunken a little too much, and I am worried about Sirius and James, and the whole situation, and am talking nonsense."

They sat there for some minutes, just looking into their glasses and saying nothing.

Then Peter started: "Perhaps. No, that's impossible!"

"Perhaps what?"

"Oh, I just thought, perhaps Sirius was the traitor."

"No, I don't think it was Sirius. I rather think it's one of the Order."

"You're right, Sirius wouldn't. And besides, if he were, than James and Lily were dead by now, weren't they?"

Remus looked as if he wanted to comment on that, but then he didn't. He just stood up, and put his empty glass on the table.

"Well, I think I'll best be going. Can I take some of your Floo-Powder? I think it wouldn't be such a good idea to apparate right now." Remus asked. He had said enough to make Peter think. Now he just had to go and wait.

"Of course, take as much as you like!"

Remus went to the fireplace, took some of the Floo-Powder Peter had in an old jar-glass over the fireplace, threw a handful into the fire, went into the fireplace and said loud: "Merlinstreet 15!"

Then he disappeared, and Peter suddenly stood up, now appearing completely sober, and went to the fireplace, too. There he made the exact same movements Remus had done seconds before, but he didn't stand in the fire before he said : "Lucius Malfoy!".

Malfoy's head appeared in the fire a short while later.

"What do you want?"

"Hello, Lucius, short as always, no?" a short, nervous laughter came from Peter, while Malfoy stayed serious, looking even a little bored.

"Ah, well, Remus was here just now, and he made some comments."

"Yes?"

"Well, it could be that Sirius was just bluffing, and in truth Remus is the secret-keeper."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, quite. He didn't say it openly of course, for this he wasn't drunken enough" - again a hysterical laughter - "but he hinted at it."

"I will tell the Lord!" With those words Malfoy's head disappeared.


End file.
